Berry wins Beech Ridge opener

April 22, 2002 6:25 am

SCARBOROUGH – Steve Berry Jr. of Gorham started the defense of his 2001 NASCAR Pro Series championship in fine form Sunday at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

Berry took advantage of his pole position, led most of Sunday afternoon’s 40-lap feature, and was the first one to cross the finish line under the checkered flag after a duel with Saco’s David Pinkham. Pinkham finished second. Scarborough’s Richard Pelton won a three-way battle for third against Alan Tardiff of Lyman (fourth) and Scarborough’s David Oliver (fifth).

At Oxford, after chasing the leaders for much of Sunday’s 35-lap Oxford Network Pro Stock feature race, Alan Wilson made his move with just enough time to spare as he took the lead on the white flag lap and then won the race by half a car length over pole-sitter Scott King.

Gary Drew was third by about the same margin. Seven-time champion Jeff Taylor was fourth and Mike Maietta wound up fifth.